Racial inequality is one of the most important social problems that covers various spheres of life. The most serious consequences of discrimination based on race are associated with violence and impairment of rights. However, legislation is believed to protect vulnerable populations from the negative outcomes of racial biasing. In this paper, racial inequality and its legal issues are analyzed through the examples of existing legal documents and anti-discrimination organizations.
The analyzed problem is especially severe in regions with a racially diverse population. Researchers mention African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and other racial and ethnic minorities being biased and discriminated against by their skin color and origin. The roots of these disparities can be found back in history, at the time of the genocide of indigenous people, slavery, and international labor migration (Kelly and Bailey, 2018). One of the important aspects of racial inequality is the limited access of marginalized groups of the population to education, political procedures, healthcare, and other essential spheres and services.
Recently, special attention has been paid to the development of anti-discrimination laws and policies in healthcare. Blake and Hatzenbuehler (2019) investigated this issue in the example of American medical institutions. According to their findings, “stigma is a driver of health inequality across the population” (Blake and Hatzenbuehler, 2019, p. 2). At the same time, the authors confirm that the law protects racial minorities from discrimination in private doctors’ offices and private hospitals (Blake and Hatzenbuehler, 2019). Moreover, certain laws, for example, the Americans with Disabilities Act, guarantee the provision of federal funding for people belonging to a different race (Blake and Hatzenbuehler, 2019). It can be suggested that compared to other forms of discrimination, for example, based on sex, racial minorities are more protected from unfairness.
At the international level, there are also certain laws and policies that protect people of color from discrimination, violence, and impairment of rights. De Beco (2017) demonstrates international race-related human rights law through the example of people with disabilities. According to the author, the cultural and linguistic peculiarities of such people lead to communication barriers and consequent stigma and stereotyping. However, the regulations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) can apply to the case of disability among racial minorities. The Convention guarantees labor markets to be equally open to people of all races and ensures the equal treatment of these workers. As for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), it requires the cultural and linguistic identity of employees to be respected (De Beco, 2017). Therefore, even though these regulations may not seem comprehensive enough, they present the foundation of international anti-discrimination law.
Certain studies imply that racial inequality is closely connected to how laws are applied to vulnerable populations. For example, according to Lee et al. (2016), emergency management laws and policies disproportionally affect particular racial minorities, such as African American residents and Latinos. These groups of the population were subject to certain legal measures in emergency cases, such as economic distress and water crisis, which led to negative consequences for the health and well-being of these populations (Lee et al., 2016). These results confirm that racial minorities still have less power in society and that laws can negatively influence entire communities of color.
Criminal justice is another sphere where the law does not have full power over racial inequality. The article by Omori and Johnson (2019) focuses on how criminal justice institutions and their legal policies demonstrate racial discrimination in punishment. Special attention is given to court decisions and the length of prison sentencing. According to Omori and Johnson (2019), there is much black-white racial inequality in the sphere of criminal legislation. This fact is explained by the racialized stereotypes of black people existing in legislation, especially in drug-related policies and incentives. Latino defendants are also considered to be the most disadvantaged populations in terms of criminal justice, especially in the case of pretrial detention, having a plea offer, and being sentenced to incarceration. Since criminal justice actors have the power to make decisions, criminal legislation is less protected from the racial biases of a responsible individual. For example, according to recent research, prosecutors’ charges-related decisions demonstrated “a pattern of disparities in favor of female defendants and against black and Hispanic defendants” (Omori and Johnson, 2019, p. 9). Therefore, in order to ensure racial equality within this sphere, it is necessary to reconsider criminal justice policies and legislation.
The idea of racial discrimination in the sphere of criminal justice is rather widespread among researchers. According to Donnelly (2016), the increasing racial disproportion of people of color in criminal processing is evidence of poor anti-discrimination policies within the entire system. This statement proves that criminal justice is the sphere that demands special attention from authorities and policy-makers in order to protect people of racial and ethnic minorities.
It is possible to conclude that even though there is a tendency to legally protect the rights of racial minorities, many aspects still demand the attention of policy-makers. Today, numerous local and international laws guarantee the access of all people to education, labor, and healthcare regardless of their race; however, cases of violence toward marginalized people still occur. It allows concluding that sometimes, the law has no power over the existing attitudes and stereotypes, and major social and legal changes are needed to solve this crucial and widespread problem.
Reference List
Blake, V.K. and Hatzenbuehler, M.L. (2019) ‘Legal remedies to address stigma‐based health inequalities in the United States: challenges and opportunities’, The Milbank Quarterly, 97(2), pp. 480–504. Web.
De Beco, G. (2017) ‘Protecting the invisible: an intersectional approach to international human rights law’, Human Rights Law Review, 17(4), pp. 633–663. Web.
Donnelly, E.A. (2016) ‘The politics of racial disparity reform: racial inequality and criminal justice policymaking in the States’, American Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), pp. 1–27.
Kelly, M.D.A. and Bailey, S.R. (2018) ‘Racial inequality and the recognition of racial discrimination in Jamaica’, Social Identities, 24(6), pp. 688-706. Web.
Lee, S.J. et al. (2016) ‘Racial inequality and the implementation of emergency management laws in economically distressed urban areas’, Children and Youth Services Review, 70, pp. 1–7.
Omori, M. and Johnson, O. (2019) ‘Racial inequality in punishment’, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Criminology and Criminal Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.